Forming of connector on a wire and assembly therewith

ABSTRACT

THE END PORTION OF A WIRE IN FLATTENED TO PRODUCE A CONNECTOR SECTION WHEN THEN HAS A HOLE MADE THERETHROUGH TO ACCOMMODATE A SECOND WIRE WHICH IS SECURED THERETO.

March 2, 1971 AL WEINER 3,566,465

' FORMING OF CO CTOR ON WIRE AN 7 ASSEMB THEREW Filed May 16, 1969 Fig,Hg. 2

ATTORNEY 3,566,465 FORMING F CONNECTOR ON A WIRE AND ASSEMBLY THEREWITHAl Weiner, 2111 Regatta Ave, Sunset Island 4, Miami Beach, Fla. 33140Filed May 16, 1969, Ser. No. 825,332 Int. Cl. H01r 43/00 US. Cl. 29-628Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The end portion of a wire is flattenedto produce a connector section which then has a hole made therethroughto accommodate a second wire which is secured thereto.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is a usual practice in connecting two wirestogether, or in connecting leads of electrical elements, to employ aseparately manufactured connector element which is attached to the endof one of the wires to make a good mechanical and electrical connectionwith a minimum of assembly time. Such connectors are available in manydifferent sizes and shapes, depending upon the type of connection to bemade. However, most of such connectors in general use are of the eyelettype, having a circular wire receiving ring at one end, and the otherend having a sleeve or similar type structure for grasping the end ofthe wire to be connected.

This method of making connections has involved the purchase of theconnector for a given wire, and the attachment of the connector on theend of the wire, prior to making the desired connection between twoelectrical conductors.

Both the purchase of the special connector members, and their attachmentto the end of the wire required an expenditure of money which willamount to a sizeable sum when a large number of such connections are tobe made.

Accordingly, it is a principle object of this invention to provide asimple and relatively inexpensive method of making the desiredconnection.

It is another object of this invention to eliminate the need for aspecial conductor member.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a connectorintegral with the wire, thus obviating a special connector, and the needto affix it to the end of the conductor.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a method forquickly connecting two conductors in a minimum of production time.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of connectingtwo conductors in a stronger electrical and mechanical connection thanwas possible heretofor.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a mechanical andelectrical joint which is smaller and neater than previously obtainable.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a connectionbetween conductors which does not require any special connector members.

A still further object of this invention is to make it possible to forma connector at the end of any given Wire ted States Patent 0 "ice whichcan be used to join that wire to another, obviating the need for a stockof connectors of diflerent sizes.

These and other further objects of this invention will become moreapparent from a reading of the following specification and claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows the end of a wire prior toforming of a connector section.

FIG. 2 shows the wire end of FIG. 1 after forming of the connectorsection.

FIG. 3 shows a completed connector after a wire re ceiving hole has beenmade therein.

FIG. 4 shows a wire having the integral connector prior to receiving theend of a second wire.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a completed joint.

FIG. 6 shows the two elements of FIG. 4, in position for joining.

FIG. 7 shows the members of FIG. 6 after the joint has been completed.

FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view illustrating the mechanical gripobtainable when the terminal member is folded over.

FIG. 9 shows a plurality of terminal ended wires connected to a singlewire.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows awire generally indicated at 10 from which an integral connector sectionis formed. The end of the wire is placed in a press and flattenedresulting in the configuration shown in FIG. 2, wherein an enlargedconnector section 12 is formed on the end of the wire 14. The junctionbetween the flattened end on the flattened sections 12 and 14 isindicated at 16. A side view of the flattened section can be seen inFIG. 5.

The final step in forming the completed connector section involves themaking of the hole 18 in the widened connector section 12. This hole isslightly greater in size than the size of the wire which is to bereceived therethrough. In practice there is a clearance of from two tofive thousandths allowed for between the wire and the periphery of thehole. It will be noted that the hole is centrally disposed in theenlarged connector section 12, and that a substantial free end 20 isallowed for between the tip of the connector and the periphery of thehole 18.

The wire 10 with the completed connector section as shown in FIG. 3 isnow ready for joining with the end of the second wire which is to beattached thereto.

The connector section can be bent up as shown in FIG. 4 along thejuncture line 16 to permit end to end joint of two wire ends that aredisposed parallel to each other.

FIG. 5 shows the joinder of the connector section hearing wire 10 with asecond wire 24 where the wires to be connected are disposedperpendicular to one another.

The end line connection of two wires such as those shown in FIG. 4 areillustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. The wire 24 as shown in FIG. 4 is insertedthrough the opening 18 of the upturned terminal section 12 of wire 10and moved a substantial distance as illustrated in FIG. 6 at which pointit can be soldered to complete the connection of the two wires. Howeverif a firm mechanical bond is desired, the upturned section 20 can befolded down on the wire 24 which is illustrated in FIG. 7, andthereafter solder can be applied to the adjacent surfaces of each of thewires.

It has been found that with only a small clearance of several of morethousandths of an inch between the pheriphery of the opening 18 and thewire inserted therethrough a solder bond is usually satisfactory tocomplete the connection. For example, the construction of FIG. iscomplete with the application of solder, and in most instances this bondis sufficiently strong to hold the wires together.

In some instances, it may be desirable to obtain a very strongmechanical bond prior to application of the solder. FIG. 8 illustratesthis mechanical lock, and shows an enlarged cross sectional view of theconnector wherein the peripheral edegs 26 and 28 are forced inwardly tobite into the outer peripheral surface of the wire 24 when theupstanding outer free end is bent down against the wire in the mannerindicated in FIG. 7. This results in a strong mechanical bond prior toapplication of the solder, wherein the two pieces are mechanicallylocked together and cannot be moved relative to one another. Solder isapplied to the wires as the final step, as shown in FIG. 7.

The connection of the plurality of wires is illustrated in FIG. 9,wherein the wire 30 having the integral connector member 32 and asimilar wire with an integral connector are joined together with thewire which is passed through the openings of the connector sections ofwires 30 and 40.

METHOD It can be seen that this simplified integral terminal orconnector structure has a wide application of uses, permitting theelectrican to readily connect for most any type of wire size in thefield.

The applications of the invention are many and varied, premitting theelectrican to readily obtain a joint connecting one wire to another, orconnecting electrical components such as condensers, resistors, diodes,or other elements. The handiness of such an arrangement can be seenwhere a large number of connections are to be made, such as enlargecircuit boards, and terminal boxes.

It is also application in small wiring jobs where the electrican mustmake connections such as in the home, electrical machinery, and othertypes of field applications.

With the use of a small punch, or a manual flattening plier or crimper,the first step of flattening the end of the wire is readilyaccomplished.

The small punch is in use to make the hole through the flatenedconnectors section at the end of the wire.

Where a large number of wires are involved, it is preferable to usepower punch presses in the shop to flatten the end of the wire and topunch the hole through the connector section, since a large number ofwires can be provided with the integral connector section in a veryshort period of time.

It should be noted that it is also possible to provide for a pluralityof spaced connections of wires on one length of wire, by pressing out aplurality of spaced connector sections along the length of the wire atdesired spaced intervals. Holes are then made through the flattenedsections by using a piercing or hole punch resulting in a series ofeyelets at the desired spaced intervals along the length of the wire.

The connection of the wires is made by inserting the plain ended wirethrough the hole of the wire having the connector section, andsubsequently soldering the adjacent surfaces of the wires together. Formost purposes this joint will be suflicient, but where it is desired toobtain the very strong joint, the terminal free end portion is foldedback on the plain ended wire with a plier or similar tool prior tosoldering as described above with regard to FIGS. 7 and 8.

In a certain application such as the wiring of radio and television setsand similar types of electronic equipment, it is possible to predip theend of the wire in solder prior to putting the pieces together, so thatno additional solder for the joint is required.

It should be noted that Where the free end 20 of the terminal section isto be bent over on the plain wire end, the central hole should bepositioned close enough to the junction line .16 to permit the end toreadily be folded over by use of pliers or other types of crimping tool.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The method of forming a strong rigid connection between wirescomprising the steps of:

(a) flattening a substantial portion of the end of a plurality of firstwires to produce a plurality of fiat, enlarged connector sectionssubstantially larger than the diameters of their respective wires;

(b) making a hole through each of said plurality of said connectorsections to receive a second wire therethrough, the size of said holesbeing slightly larger than the size of said second wire;

(0) passing said second wire through said hole in each of said pluralityof connector sections, whereby there is a small clearance space providedbetween the periphery of each of said holes and the surface of saidsecond wire; and

(d) bending the portion of said second wire on one side of saidconnector sections back onto said connector sections, whereby saidsecond wire clamps said plurality of connector sections forming a strongrigid connection.

2. The method of forming a strong rigid connection between wirescomprising the steps of:

(a) flattening a substantial end portion of the ends of a plurality offirst wires for producing a plurality of flat, enlarged, integralconnector sections substantially larger than the diameter of saidplurality of first wires;

(b) making a hole through each of said plurality of connector sectionsto receive a second wire therethrough, the size of said hole beingslightly larger than the size of said second wire;

(0) passing said second wire through said hole in each of said pluralityof connector sections, whereby there is a small clearance space providedbetween the periphery of each of said holes and the surface of saidsecond wire;

(d) spacing said plurality of connector sections at selected intervalsalong the length of said second wire; and

(e) placing liquid solder on the wires at a point adjacent the peripheryof each of said holes, whereby said liquid solder immediately flows intosaid clearance spaces and around a substantial portion of said secondwire forming strong mechanical bonds between said wires when said solderhardens.

3. The method of forming a strong rigid connection between wires as setforth in claim 2 including the step of:

(a) selecting as the first wire a lead wire which is integral with anelectrical component.

4. The method of forming a strong rigid connection between wirescomprising the steps of (a) flattening a plurality of portions along thelength of a first wire for producing a plurality of flat, enlarged,integral, connector sections substantially larger than the diameter ofsaid wire;

(b) making a hole through each of said plurality of connector sectionsfor receiving a second wire therethrough, the size of each of said holesbeing slightly larger than thesize of said second wire to be receivedtherethrough;

(c) passing said second wires through said holes, providing a smallclearance space between the periphery of each of said holes and thesurface of said second wire received therethrough; and

(d) placing liquid solder on the wires at a point adjacent the peripheryof each of said holes, whereby said liquid solder immediately flows intoeach of said clearance spaces and around a substantial portion of eachof said second wires forming strong mechanical bonds between the wireswhen said solder hardens.

5. The method of forming a strong rigid connection between wires as setforth in claim 4 including the step of:

(a) selecting as the second wire a lead wire which is integral with anelectrical components.

1,702,756 2/1929 Woodbridge 339277C 6 2,770,075 11/1956 Moore 339275X392,158 1888 Lemp l56275 379,598 3/1888 Otto. 3,025,339 3/1962 Gordon etal.

FOREIGN PATENTS 206,521 1939 Switzerland. 234,374 1925 Great Britain.

0 JOHN F. CAMPBELL, PrimaryExaminer 8/1944 Krause 24 27 15 R.W. CHURCH,Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

